Queens County Dems still in control in local races – for now
/
Rep. Gregory Meeks is the leader of the Queens County Democratic Party, which saw a vast majority of its candidates win in last month’s primary elections. Eagle file photo by David Brand
By Jacob Kaye
It’s only been about three years since Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Queens County Democratic Party leader Joe Crowley and changed the face of the progressive movement in Queens and the country.
However, despite high expectations that her leadership would bring about massive progressive change in this year’s races for Queens City Council seats, the Queens County Democratic Party proved that the moderates still have a large seat at the table.
While a handful of progressive candidates won races throughout the borough – including Democratic Socialists of America-backed Tiffany Caban – six of the eight candidates formally endorsed by the Queens County Democratic organization are expected to win their races once the election is certified by the Board of Elections next week.
AOC’s Courage to Change PAC endorsed candidates in 10 Queens races, including multiple candidates in some races. Four of them – Caban, Shekar Krishnan, Felicia Singh and Julie Won – are currently expected to win.
The Queens Democratic machine, run by Rep. Gregory Meeks, backed likely winners Sandra Ung in District 20, Lynn Schulman in District 29 and incumbents Francisco Moya, Adrienne Adams, Selvena Brooks-Powers and James Gennaro in Districts 21, 28, 31 and 24.
Additionally, candidates who have ties to the party but who were not formally endorsed, including Tony Avella and Linda Lee, claimed victory following the latest count from the BOE.
Two of the party’s endorsees, Austin Shafran in District 19 and Ebony Young in District 26, lost their races.
If the results hold, more than half of Queens’ City Council slate will be party-backed or affiliated when the new members are sworn in.
However, the party’s winners told the Eagle that it wasn’t so much the influence of the organization that propelled them to victory, rather it was voters’ desire to elect someone that was less concerned with ideology and more concerned with quality of life issues.
“I don't think voters think of it as this is the progressive movement and this is the moderate movement,” said Ung. “I think voters want to talk to the actual candidates themselves, and see who that candidate is who’s seeking to represent the community.”
In Lee’s district, the story was the same.
“It was a lot of local issues that they were focusing on that were very neighborhood centric, versus ideological,” she said.
Gennaro, who was challenged by Moumita Ahmed, a candidate endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, said that the progressive movement’s influence didn’t matter much in his district.
“They don't embrace the politics of the hard left, they just don't,” said Gennaro, who won over 60 percent of the vote.
Progressives gain a foothold
Despite the continued power of the Queens machine, progressive politics in Queens, a borough experiencing vast demographic changes, showed that it was very much a force to be reckoned with during this year’s primary elections.
With Caban’s victory, Western Queens will soon be represented by Democratic Socialist lawmakers at the local, state and federal levels.
In District 32, the only Republican district in Queens, Felicia Singh expanded the electorate and defeated Michael Scala, a moderate Democrat.
“Voters need a will and a reason to go outside to the polls, they need to feel heard and seen, and they need to hear your plan,” Singh said. “I was always true to what I believed in and I was always true to what people wanted in our communities. And that's how I expanded the electorate.”
However, though she has a progressive platform, Singh said she stayed away from the term. The word isn’t used on her website.
“I think the word ‘progressive’ has a lot of negative connotations, because people believe it to mean something really extreme and radical,” she said. “It actually means progress and resources for communities in a different way than we've ever had before.”
Schulman, who won her race in District 29, was backed by the county party. She proudly calls herself a progressive and uses the word to describe her or her policies six times on her campaign website.
While she believes her progressive policies resonated with voters, she feels that they were more driven by electing someone with experience.
“I am progressive but separate from those titles, I think people were looking for folks with experience,” said Schulman, who works in the City Council speaker’s office. “Whatever labels we put on it, I think we're all we all want to have a wonderful community.”
Jaslin Kaur, one of three DSA-backed candidates running in Queens, came in second in her bid for District 23, currently represented by moderate Democrat Barry Grodenchik. Despite the loss, Kaur said the state of the progressive movement in Queens is strong and that she expects it to continue to grow over the coming years.
“It’s clear that not not mincing words about your policies, and being very straightforward about the campaign that you run, generates an immense amount of voter turnout,” said Kaur. “[The Queens County Democratic Party] can't just win by large margins anymore or by just mailers and political consultants – that's not going to work anymore.”
Not what it used to be
Gennaro, who formally represented his district in the City Council about a decade ago, said that while he appreciated the support from the party, his win is attributable to the work he and his team did.
“County's support is not what it used to be. What do they do to help you? With petition signatures? I get my own signatures,” he said. “I got to put on my literature that I was endorsed by Greg Meeks, which helps.”
City Councilmember Adrienne Adams, who easily won her race for reelection in District 28 and is supported by the County party, said that while she supports the idea of political organizations, their role in local Queens politics has shifted.
“I think that dynamics have changed a lot over the years,” she said. “The party still has influence. But I think that because people have expanded a lot in political views, political stances, political support, there is more of an opinion coming from elsewhere, – other than ‘Democratic parties.’”
As far as where voters priorities are, Adams says they haven’t changed much and likely won’t change much more in the future.
“I think voters are still where they've always been – protecting the sanctity of their communities,” she said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story listed Councilmember Barry Grodenchik as the former representative of District 23. Grodenchik is the current City Councilmember of District 23.
